After NCLEX fear

Nursing Students NCLEX

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Hi all! I have a weird fear that I do pretty well on tests because I can see the multiple choice options and I know which one to choose. My fear is that once I get out in the real world, if I pass boards, that I will feel like I know nothing. I am afraid that situations will come up at the hospital, or where ever I end up working, and I will not know what to do. I won't have 4 multiple choice options to view and choose from, I will just have to know. That scares me! Does anyone else feel this way? Is it true we learn most on the job?

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Specializes in PACU, pre/postoperative, ortho.

I can remember having that exact fear & saying the same thing to a classmate. ("I do really well picking out the right answer when it's right in front of me but what about when I have to pull it out of my head when I need it?") You'll be surprised though how much information you've retained.

The main thing starting out is to recognize when something is abnormal or deviates from baseline. You remember what intervention is appropriate for that problem? Great! Not sure? Time to talk to your more experienced coworkers. Is it an emergency? Activate your rapid response or code team. Beyond that, you will learn all the day to day, shift to shift duties pretty quick. As more emergent situations occur and you're exposed to more pt care, you'll be more comfortable & confident.

You've got this.

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In my opinion anyone who has a brand new license and on their first job who doesn't have that fear is a walking danger zone. Of course you are afraid of what you don't know. You don't know much yet, LOL, and that's where the learning begins, after the NCLEX :-)

Not much scarier than a brand new nurse who feels super confident in his abilities because he passed a minimum competency exam but hasn't yet learned what comes after.

You'll be fine í ½í¸Š

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Thanks so much you guys! I appreciate the encouragement

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Thanks so much you guys! I appreciate the encouragement

you're welcome. I'll even share a personal story. I remember my first job, the absolute cold fear getting off the elevator onto my floor and the heavy weight pressing down on me as I walked closer and closer to my unit doors. It wasn't that I hated my job I just was terrified of being assigned a patient who was too sick for me to handle, had too many meds I didn't know, had a wounSod care or treatment that was beyond me, like that. I was sensible and careful and paid attention and knew I could go to the charge nurse for help and when I was still on orientation, go to my preceptor. I knew this. I also knew it didn't stop me from being terrified :)

Someone from my graduating class was also on this unit and had started a short time before me because I took time after graduation to study for NCLEX and he put in application right away, got working right away. He had no problem bragging about how much more "experienced" he was than me (can you imagine how stupid that sounds to me now??). And for all his showboating he was also the first one of my new-hire group to be written up for a med error, the first one to be reprimanded for missing a new order and the first one dragged into the Nurse Manager's office because of a patient's family members' complaints. Can't believe I still remember this, but I guess it's because at the time he made me feel like *I* was the one who didn't know enough, was too timid, didn't just jump right into the fray (which is almost always the stupidest thing you can do if you don't know what you're doing!). Time moved on, he moved on to another job, eventually so did I. Last I knew, which was just a few years after graduation, he'd been bragging about how he was being groomed for management when in fact he was about to get fired. Karma is something, isn't it?

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